Memories
by Neshae Serpentine
Summary: Rayman discovers the mystery behind his hidden past with the help of a girl from another world and a brother he never knew he had. They journey to find a missing amulet before an evil villain can get to it and save the world.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Mist clung to the ocean air. The water roared softly in the night. A storm had just passed, carrying a piece of driftwood almost to the shore. A creature clung to the driftwood in his sleep. All that could be seen of him in the thick fog was that he was limbless and his hair was blond.

Flashes of memories disturbed the child's dreams. His heart pounded as they relived themselves in his mind.

There was a soft bump as the driftwood hit the sand of the shore. This was just enough to wake the child. Water still lightly sprinkled from the sky here. The boy stood and stumbled to a palm tree. Its large leaves sheltered him from the rain. There he fell asleep once again, exhausted from hanging onto the driftwood during the storm.

The rain ceased. A fisherman woke from his sleep inside his house by the beach. He looked out the window as if called by a strange power. He saw something by the palm tree and left the house to investigate. He found the limbless boy and stared in wonder.

How could it be alive without limbs? He wondered. A few more fishermen gathered in the early morning light to see. They whispered among each other, careful not to wake the boy.

A shadow emerged from the mist. A woman wearing a long, brown cloak stepped between two of the fishermen.

"What is it?" asked one of them.

"Shh." The woman said. Her face could not be seen in the dim light. It was hidden under the hood of her cloak.

She knelt down beside the boy and put a fair hand on his forehead. A soft, blue light connected the two.

"He has terrible memories that no one should have to bear. He will have to learn them later when he is older and able to handle such things. He is needed for greater things for now." She said. A red light replaced the blue one as she erased the boy's memory.

One of the fishermen started to speak, but the woman raised a hand to quiet him. She stood and turned away from the boy.

"His name is Rayman." She said and disappeared into the mist as silently as she had emerged.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

...several years later...

There was mostly darkness. Light came from the mushrooms that illuminated the ground, the lums that gave off their own light, and the two moons that hung in the sky, just above the horizon. They sank lower and lower until they were gone.

But in their departure, another source of light peaked out over the horizon. A single beam stretched out between the trees and hit a target.

Rayman closed his eye tighter. He was not quite awake enough to merely turn over. Then a shadow blocked the beam of light. Normally, this was not enough to wake him, but it did this time. His eyes opened just in time to see a fist coming at his head.

His heart leapt and he rolled over. The hand hit the ground where his head had been. He jumped to his feet, hands in fists, ready to fight. But what he saw made him hesitate.

The figure looked just like him, except for its colors. Mostly shades of blue and purple covered its body and its eyes were an almost glowing yellow. Rayman recognized the enemy from his first adventure: Dark Rayman. And if Dark Rayman was here, then Dark, his first villain, had to be somewhere.

"Miss me?" Dark Rayman asked.

"No, not really." Rayman answered.

"Scared?"

Rayman smiled. "Of you? No."

Dark Rayman ran at Rayman. He merely jumped over his opponent. Dark Rayman skidded to a stop and turned around. He took a swing at Rayman, who ducked. While he was down, Rayman picked up a long nearby stick. He could not punch Dark Rayman because all it took was a touch from Dark Rayman to kill him.

Rayman swung the stick at Dark Rayman. TO his surprise, Dark Rayman caught it. He swung Rayman off his feet and into the trunk of a tree. Then he dropped the stick and it and Rayman fell to the ground.

"Dark gave me an upgrade, I guess you'd call it." Dark Rayman said as he walked toward Rayman. "I'm stronger and faster now."

Rayman picked up a rock about the size of his hand and threw it at Dark Rayman. Without staying to see if the target was hit, he turned and ran. He hid behind a tree next to a small cliff. If he could keep surprising Dark Rayman, he could weaken him enough to beat him.

Dark Rayman ran past the tree. Rayman picked up another rock and threw it at his evil twin. It hit Dark Rayman on the back of the head. Rayman cheered as Dark Rayman fell to the ground and his body began to dematerialize, becoming small orbs of light until the process was complete. The spell was broken.

But instead of fading away, the orbs fused back together, creating the body of Dark Rayman once again. Dark Rayman stood back up, a dark smile on his face.

"Part of the upgrade," he started, "is the part where if you beat me, I come back even stronger than before." He turned towards Rayman. "Your turn!"

As a fist shot at Rayman, he jumped back to avoid it. Instead of landing on solid ground, however, he went over the edge of the cliff. He fell about five feet and began rolling down the slope. Dark Rayman jumped down to follow.

Once Rayman was back on his feet, Dark Rayman immediately began shooting his fists at him. Rayman back flipped a few times and found himself in shadow. Another back flip and he realized he had gone into a cave.

When Dark Rayman's fists stopped coming, Rayman stopped flipping and prepared for his next attack.

Dark Rayman brought his fists high up into the air and then jerked them down, causing the earth to shake. Rayman realized what was happening and tried to run out of the cave, but boulders from the ceiling fell in his path, closing up the opening forever.

When the dust settled, Rayman looked for any hole in the rocks to go through. There was not even a small hole for light to come through. The entrance was sealed, throwing Rayman into pitch black darkness.

He felt along the wall, hoping to find another way out of the cave. Sure enough, the wall seemed to stretch on as a tunnel. He stumbled into a few stalagmites, but otherwise, going through was pretty smooth.

After a few minutes, he saw light up ahead. It was a soft, blue-green light that could not have been from outside. There was a source of light inside the cave itself.

His theory was proven correct when he reached an enormous cavern. The ceiling seemed as though it was made of nothing but blue-green crystals that produced the soft light. The cave had a certain feeling to it, as though no one had been inside it for centuries.

Rayman looked around for the next way out, but found none. The cavern was a perfect circle with no exits other than the one he had come out of. He would have to go back through and feel the other wall to see if there was a way out he missed.

As he turned to go back, something caught his eye on the part of the wall to the right. He took another glance and saw runes carved into the rock. The runes were made up of slashes, crosses, shapes, and swirls. He recognized them as the runes of the Ancients, the ancient people who had created every prophesy billions of years ago. Most of them were dead, but there were a few that still lived. No one had seen them simply because o one knew where they were.

Rayman moved closer to the runes and studied them. Although he had never been taught how to translate them, he seemed to know exactly what they said.

The day the hero dies at dawn

The day the glory is not won

A new legend will begin

This time the evil will not win

Fight to the death one last time

Until the Ancient's time to shine

One who is not earthen bound

Shall come forth and make a sound

The day the sun dies violent red

The legend will come to an end

An image flashed through Rayman's mind as he read the last word. There was a blood red sunrise. The black letters of the prophesy ran over the clouds as if they were the paper blowing away in the wind. He was incredibly tense. The sound of people screaming rang in his ears.

The vision was gone as quickly as it had come. It seemed familiar, like a long forgotten memory. It as completely possible, for he could not remember anything before he woke up under the palm tree before his first adventure.

"The trouble with prophesies," said a female voice behind him.

Rayman jumped and turned around. A tall woman stood behind him. He could not see her face, for it was behind the hood of a cloak that covered her entire body, except for her hands, which were on her hips. The hood was positioned so that it seemed she was looking at the prophesy with him.

She continued, "is that the Ancients make them up, not realizing what effect it will have on the people in them."

"Where'd you come from?" Rayman asked.

The woman walked gracefully to the wall and put her hand on the rock. The wall instantly looked less like hard stone and more like chocolate pudding. It swirled like a whirlpool on its side and disappeared, leaving a hole leading to another tunnel.

She looked at him. "That prophesy is the cause of your stolen memories."

Rayman looked at the runes on the wall. "What? You mean my memories were stolen? How--" He looked back at her only to see that she was gone.

He went into the tunnel to try to follow her. The same blue-green crystals were on the ceiling of this tunnel, which stretched on in the distance. The woman was nowhere to be seen.

Without much of a choice, Rayman went into the new tunnel.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The girl ran. The ground was cracked and dry, no plant life in sight. The early morning light made it easier to see the jagged boulders that dotted the terrain. The only problem was, so could the man chasing her.

He was a sorcerer and she had the thing he was after, the Snake Cross Amulet. Its power was great, greater than any other magical item she had ever encountered. And if this bad guy got it, the world would be toast.

She looked at the amulet she clutched so tightly. It was like a cross necklace, but the cross was made of two snakes slithering across each other. The snakes were light blue and glowed in the dim light. A black chain protruded from the mouth of the longer snake.

She had been running for hours, hiding when she could, but always being found by her enemy. But at last, she was almost to the meeting point where her friends would help her. She could not fight the sorcerer on her own. He was too strong. She had barely managed to get away with stealing the Snake Cross Amulet.

She skidded to a stop. She had lost her way in the dark. She had almost run off the edge of a cliff, which had been invisible in the morning light.

Where had she lost her way? How far off course was she? She could not worry about that now. She would have to continue running until she could find a safe hiding place to contact the others.

As she looked for a way down, she heard a thump behind her. A knot forming in her stomach, she turned around. The beast had landed. It was massive, five times her size. Its body was like that of a lion, except for its black fur. And its head was like that of a bird with black feathers. Huge bat wings sprouted out of its back, allowing the creature to fly. Around its neck was a silver collar with reins attached. But it was the man holding the reins that had formed the knot.

Everything about this guy was white, from his hair, to his eyes, to his robes. He had changed his appearance to appear more pure. In fact, purity was the cause of this whole thing. He decided that the world was not pure enough and must be destroyed and recreated in his image. The Snake Cross Amulet would give him the power to do so. The girl hid the amulet inside her shirt. She put the chain around her neck so she could avoid loosing it easier.

"Give me the amulet and your death will be quicker and less painful." the man said.

Without warning, the girl stretched her soul at the man and hit him with it. She'd had the power to fight with her soul for as long as she could remember. It did not damage to the body, but to the soul instead.

The force of the blow knocked the man off his steed. He stood up and shot a blast of lightning at the girl. She ducked and mirrored the blast at him. While he was distracted, she ran at him and kicked at his head. The impact made his neck pop and caused him to stumble backwards. She stole the opportunity to put her hands on his shoulders and pull him into her raised knee. Then she pushed him away and ran along the edge of the cliff to find a way down.

It was a moment before Tempistus could straighten himself and shoot another blast of lightning at the girl. He was dizzy and his aim was off, causing the bolt to hit the ground next to the girl's feet.

The ground exploded next to the girl's feet, throwing her off the edge of the cliff. There was one thing she could do to save herself, although it would take the rest of her energy. She would have to hope she landed safely when she passed through. A purple beam shot from her outstretched hands and stopped somewhere between the girl and the ground. A portal opened up and she fell through, going into another world. As the gateway was complete, she lost consciousness. As she fell through the sky of a new world, the black chain slipped from around her neck and the amulet was separated from her.

Tempistus looked over the edge of the cliff to make sure his enemy had fallen. Instead, she merely created a portal to another world.

Damn. He thought. He'd have to go in after her. No time to remount his beast. The portal was closing. He jumped off the cliff and into the portal just as it closed.

Pain cut through his right wrist as he passed through. Tempistus cried out in pain and grabbed his wrist with his good hand, only to discover that his right hand was no longer there. The portal had closed up on his hand, leaving it behind.

---

A teensie was inside the fairy Counsel, sweeping around the heart

of the world. The giant orb of energy glowed brightly and small orbs of magic circled around it like planets around the sun.

He paused from his work to look up through the roof. There was a hole the size of the heart to let the energy leak through and keep the room from overflowing with it. Dawn's first light could be seen in the pale sky, but the sun was not yet high enough for any other light in the room.

A black speck appeared in the sky. It got larger and larger until the teensie was able to make out the form of a sleeping humanoid girl falling towards the heart. Before he could react, the girl fell directly into the heart. The light intensified until no shadow existed in the room and immediately restored itself as the girl was shot out into a wall.

---

She opened her eyes. What happened? Where was she? She sat up and leaned against a stone wall. A wall? She looked around. She was in a room with stone walls, stone pillars to hold up the ceiling, and a giant, glowing orb in the middle. In the middle of the ceiling was a hole to reveal the midmorning sky.

Also in the room, were little, green men with black eyes and noses bigger than the rest of their heads.

"She's alive!" one of them exclaimed.

"What happened?" the girl asked.

"You fell into the heart of the world. You're lucky to be alive right now." one of the men said.

"What?" the girl asked, trying to make sense of what they were saying.

"What is your name?" asked another.

"I'm..." she stopped. She could not remember what her name was. She couldn't remember anything. "I don't know. I can't remember."

"Can you remember anything?"

She shook her head. "No."

The man pushed forward another man. "You saw the whole thing, you tell her what happened."

The third man approached the girl. "We are the teensies. I saw you fall into the heart of the world" he pointed to the glowing orb in the middle of the room, "while you were sleeping. You were flung out and your physical form was changed in the process. The heart does this when someone touches it. It turns them into either a random form or a particular form it wants them to be. We don't know which. But most people die when they hit the wall. Only one in every thirty is predicted to survive."

"You've let thirty people touch that thing?" the girl pointed to the glowing orb.

"No, that's just what has been predicted. If it helps you to remember at all, you used to have limbs." the third teensie said.

"What?" the girl looked at her hands only to see that they were unattached to any arms and her feet were unattached to any legs. She felt for a neck but there was nothing there either. Her nose was now as big as the noses of the teensies. She couldn't remember what it used to look like, but it felt wrong now.

Her heart pounded, but she tried to stay calm. "How do I change back?"

"We don't know." the teensie said. "But when you fell, someone sensed a magical item fall into another area. We think it might be yours. But they also sensed an evil fall as well, seeming to move in the direction of the magic item. If you beat him to it, you might be able to use its power to change yourself back to your original form."

"Where did it fall?" she asked.

"In the Desert of the Knaaren. We would take you there personally with our transportation system, but it has been under construction for a few weeks and won't be ready in time. You'll have to find another way."

"Okay." Still shaken and confused, the girl stood up and made her way to the door that opened up in the wall.

"Good luck...um...what should we call you?" a fourth teensie asked.

Instinctively, her hand went to her chest, where it touched a charm. She took it in her hands and saw a golden "D" hanging from a golden chain around her neck. Maybe it was the first letter of her name. Though what it could be, she couldn't imagine.

"Call me 'D'." She said. "At least until my mind has cleared enough to think of something better."

"Good luck, D." the teensie said.

With her new, temporary name, D turned and left the room, embarking on her quest to find a magical item she didn't know anything about or what it looked like in a place she didn't know how to find, before an evil that she didn't know how to stop.

---

It was noon now. D had been walking for hours. She didn't even know if she was going in the right direction. She had forgotten to ask the teensies about that one little detail before leaving. Too late to go back now. She was completely lost in the middle of nowhere.

She stopped and sat down against a tree. At least the weather was nice. Warm, but not too hot. Giant trees scattered as far as she had been walking and God only knew how much further. The branches swayed slightly in the cool breeze, making the leaves brush against each other in a soothing rhythm.

Her eyelids became heavy as she realized just how tired she was. She felt as if she had

been running the whole day. What happened before she fell? Her mind stayed on this thought

until it finally slipped into a deep sleep.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was well into the afternoon by the time Rayman reached the end of that cave. He never did find that woman again, but her words never left his mind. How could someone steal memories? And if, indeed, they were stolen, how could he get them back?

The sun shone through the trees and onto his face as he stepped out of the shadow of the cave. It took his eyes a moment to adjust to the bright light, but it was far better than the dimly glowing crystals.

He had just taken in a peaceful sigh of relief when something slammed into him from the right, ruining the peaceful moment. The impact knocked him to the ground, his attacker on top of him.

He was about to say something like "Watch where the hell you're going!" but the words stopped before they came out when he saw the face of his attacker.

The first thing he noticed was her nose, big and round like his. Her head in general was similar to his except for her hair and eyes. Her hair hung as long as Ly's and was black. Her eyes were orange like a pumpkin and seemed alive like a jack o lantern on Halloween night. Her shirt was green and, unlike his, without a symbol. She had black tennis shoes on her feet. Other than that, she was limbless like him.

The girl stared at him in the same shock. But then an unearthly roar sounded in the forest, making birds fly from the branches above.

That snapped them out of their trance. Without warning, the girl got off of him, took his hand, and pulled him to his feet and in the direction she was running in before. Normally, he wouldn't just run, but he was still in shock and his feet seemed to just go with it.

Rayman glanced behind him and saw what had made the roar. Humanoid-like in appearance, it stood three times his size. Its skin was brown and its large hands and feet had thick claws. Rayman recognized the creature as a knaaren.

He looked back at the girl. "What is a knaaren doing here? Don't they live in a desert?"

The girl glanced at him. "I have no idea. I woke up and it was there. I was running from it when I ran into you."

Something was wrong. Dark Rayman attacking, knaaren near the Fairy Counsel. What was next?

Rayman couldn't think about that right now. They had to outrun the creature. Fighting was useless for knaaren were invincible. The one exception was when Reflux's magic backfired, turned him to ice, and shattered him.

Another knaaren stepped out in front of them. They skidded to a stop and changed direction. This time, Rayman was pulling along the girl. The second knaaren followed the first, chasing after the fleeing prey.

Rayman turned sharply to the left. "This way!" In response, the girl was jerked in his direction. That was when Rayman realized that they were still holding hands. It was the girl, however, that let go.

"Just tell me when you're changing direction." she said.

Rayman nodded. "Hey, you got a name?"

The girl hesitated for a moment. "Call me D."

"D?" Rayman asked. "Why D? What does it stand for?"

"I don't know."

Before Rayman could ask her why, he saw what would help them to outrun the knaaren. It was a small chasm in the ground. A stream ran under it, miles below. And going over it was a log. Mosses and several other different kinds of plant life grew on its surface. An insect or two could be seen crawling on the leaves.

"Come on." Rayman said. "Over the log."

D obeyed and followed Rayman as he ran across the log. He had no problem going across, but D apparently did not have as good balance as he did. She took a little longer, having to slow to a walk to get across.

Once she made it, Rayman pushed on the end of the log. D saw what he was doing and helped. Together, they pushed down the knaarens' only bridge across to them. The knaaren stopped on the other side, then turned to leave and find something else to eat.

"Now that we're safe," Rayman asked, "Why don't you know what the D stands for?"

D sighed. She began a tale about how she had woken up earlier that day inside the Fairy Counsel. She had no memory because she had fallen into the heart of the world, it changed her form, and spat her out against the wall, bumping her head. One teensie had actually seen her fall and he said that she had limbs before.

Then her tale got more interesting. The teensies told her about a magical item that they had sensed. It was probably hers and had fallen in the Desert of the Knaaren. They had no idea what it was, but it might help her to change back. They had also told her of an evil that was going after it as well. She had to beat him to it or who knows what would happen.

"Didn't the teensies give you a way to get there?" Rayman asked. "They have a portal that--"

D cut him off. "They said it was under construction. Now I've told you my story. What's your name?"

"Rayman. I don't know how to get to the desert without the portal, but I can help you find another way. This magic thing you're talking about could help me with my problem too."

Then Rayman began telling her about Dark Rayman's attack that morning and explained who Dark Rayman was and who Mr. Dark was.

"Sounds bad." D said. "I just wish we knew how to get there first."

Then a voice spoke in Rayman's head. Judging by the surprised _expression on D's face, it was in her head too. It was the voice of the mystery woman he'd met in the cave earlier that day.

"To the desert you must go

And find the treasure before the snow

When snow falls it will be too late

The evil shall fill the world with hate

Find the witch in the fairy realm

In the shadow of the helm

Those who jump shall never land

Those who climb will never stand

Those who call into the night

Must say the word that is right

If thou art worthy you will not stay

For you will have found the way."

The woman's voice faded away like it was never there, but they had both learned the poem by heart. They looked at each other. D's face full of awe.

"Did you hear that too?" she asked.

"Yeah. Someone's trying to help us out." Rayman said.

"'Find the witch in the fairy realm...' Does that mean we have to go back to the Fairy Counsel?" D asked.

Rayman shook his head. "No. This forest is ruled by the fairies. We're in the fairy realm. The place we need to look for is the 'shadow of the helm.' There's a rock a few miles north of here that's known by a tribe of humans as Helm Mountain. It's not really a mountain, but they treat it as such because a great hero was buried there. That's the only thing I can think of."

"Well, let's go." D said.

Rayman started walking north. D followed. "I don't know where it is. I just know the village is north from here. I've never been there." Rayman said. "When we find the village, we'll have to find a guide to take us to Helm."

---

It was into the evening. Dark clouds hung in the sky, threatening rain. They would have to find either the village or some kind of shelter soon. A cool breeze blew roughly through the trees, almost a sure sign of rain. The two limbless people could faintly smell the water in the air.

They heard a noise behind them. Rayman was the first to turn around, for D was dazed and seeming to be in her own little world for a few hours. When she saw him turn around, she followed his example.

Dark Rayman walked behind them. He was a good distance away, but that was close enough. Rayman winced, annoyed that Dark Rayman was going to follow them the whole adventure.

"Who's that?" D asked.

"That would be Dark Rayman." Rayman said. "He's the evil twin I told you about."

"Well, can we fight this one?" D asked.

"Wish we could." Rayman said and turned to run. "But if he's defeated, he just comes back to life even more powerful." D ran after him. "Best thing is to just loose him."

Dark Rayman ran after them. He was faster now, gaining on them with every step. If they were going to loose him, they had to do it fast.

Up ahead, another chasm appeared. A rope bridge ran across it.

"Boy, this chasm thing has been popular today." Rayman joked.

D smiled. "We beat him across, then cut the ropes?"

"Sounds good." Rayman glanced over his shoulder. Dark Rayman was a lot faster than he seemed earlier. At this rate, they wouldn't make it to the bridge, much less beat him across. "Unfortunately, that isn't going to happen."

"If he touches you, you die, right?" D asked.

"That's right."

"Go ahead. Get something to cut the ropes. I'll try to slow him down." D stopped running. Rayman stopped, not wanting to leave her behind. "Go on. He can't kill me with a touch. I'll meet you over there." When Rayman hesitated, she shouted "GO!"

Her eyes lit up like fire. Although Rayman didn't like the idea, he trusted she knew what she was doing. But halfway to the bridge he stopped.

What am I doing? He thought. She doesn't know how to fight. She doesn't remember anything.

He turned to go back and help D any way he could. But he was too late.

Dark Rayman wound up a punch and was about to take D out. Rayman shouted for her, but she didn't even seem to hear him. Fire suddenly covered her body. Rayman stood horrified at the sight. What had Dark Rayman done to her? Why hadn't he stayed to help her?

But D didn't act like she was in any pain. She held out her hands and the fire shot from her fingers. In seconds, the fire moved from around her body and in a straight line across the grass, creating a wall.

Rayman caught up with D, who was looking at her hands in shock.

"How did I do that?" she asked.

Dark Rayman stepped into the fire and fell over. Once again, his body turned into orbs of light. Rayman didn't need to see the rest. He pulled D's hand and together, they ran across the bridge.

By the time Dark Rayman fully materialized and got to his feet, Rayman and D both found sharp rocks and were cutting the ropes of the bridge. The ropes snapped and the bridge fell before he even got to it.

"Yahoo!" Rayman and D both shouted. They gave each other high fives. Even the sight of Dark Rayman jumping off the chasm into darkness below to get stronger and come out on their side couldn't ruin their mood.

"Let's get out of here." D said, still smiling.

Rayman nodded and they resumed their quest to find the one village of humans that existed in this area of his world.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The sky was almost black when Rayman and D finally saw lights from a village up ahead. The wind had gotten stronger and thunder could be heard in the distance. A storm was coming.

D was excited by everything about the storm. The electricity in the air seemed to zap her veins and give her more energy than she could remember having all day. The wind blowing at her made her feel like she was flying. The lightning and thunder seemed to represent some greater force that she could not remember, but had loved.

The village was made of a cluster of small, one story buildings, some bigger than others. They were all made of white stones and looked generally the same. The roofs all had brown shingles. It made D sick as it looked all too familiar. She wished she could remember what it was that she didn't like about this place.

"When they said humans liked to imitate each other, I didn't think they were this serious." Rayman said.

A house different from the others came like a breath of fresh air for D. It was larger than the others, made of black stones, and was built to look like a miniature castle. Finally, the oddball that showed his individuality.

Not one human was on the street. They were all inside the buildings. D could see them through windows every now and then, reading a book, watching a box with glowing, moving pictures. What was it called?

D's thoughts were interrupted, however, when Rayman suddenly stopped. "This place looks open." He said and walked to a larger building with an open door. Humans could be seen inside sitting at tables and talking. Some sat at a long bar at the back. One man stood behind it and filled glasses with different kinds of liquids.

D followed Rayman into the building. A few humans stared as they walked by, but most didn't even pay attention. Rayman led her straight to the bar and sat on one of the stools. D took a seat next to him.

"What will you have?" the man standing behind the bar asked. Unlike Rayman and D, he had arms and legs. His hair was one of those colors where it seemed dark in the shadows and light when a light shined on it. In the fire light in a fire place to the left, his hair looked red. It was tied back with a rubber band. D wondered if this was the kind of creature she used to be.

"I need a guide." Rayman answered. "We're trying to find Helm Mountain."

"Good luck." the human laughed. "No one goes there anymore. Everyone who goes there comes back babbling on about a witch."

"Why are they frightened of the witch?" D asked.

The human looked at her. "Have you ever met a witch that wasn't an old hag?" Before she could answer, the human turned back to Rayman. "They say she's the wife of Kweniah. He was killed in a fight. With what? No one knows. They just found his body beaten by that rock almost beyond recognition. It was the ring on his finger that helped us identify him. Now the witch lives there. They say she puts weird curses on anyone who goes near the place."

"Is there anyone that can take us there?" Rayman asked.

"Ask around. I'll let you rent a room for the night for twenty silver. I don't think you'll have luck getting there tonight even if you do find someone willing to take you."

"Don't have twenty silver. Thanks anyway." Rayman said.

The man eyed D's necklace. "I'll be willing to take that necklace instead. That oughtta be worth something."

D glared at him. Catching her expression, Rayman said "I don't think we can do that."

The man shrugged. "Too bad. Let me know if you change your minds." And he went back to his work.

"What now?" D asked Rayman.

"Now we try to get someone to take us to Helm." Rayman told her. He pointed to the left half of the building. "You go that way, I'll go this way. We have to find someone eventually." He then took off to the right.

D got off her stool and set off to the left. She walked up to a random table where two men were arm wrestling. The first had almost pinned the second. The second man's arm was trembling slightly and his face was red and sweating.

"Give up yet?" the first man asked, not breaking a sweat.

"Yeah." the second said and relaxed his arm, letting it get pinned to the table by the stronger man.

"Hi." D said, not getting the attention of either man. She tried again, louder this time. "Hello."

The first man looked at her. "Finally. Go get me a beer. My friend will have one too."

"If I do that will you take me to Helm?" D asked.

The men looked at her like she was crazy. "Get outta here." the first one said and turned back to the second. "Another round?"

This wasn't getting anywhere. D was going to have to get the attention of the humans another way. She looked around and saw the bar. Then she had an idea.

D climbed up onto the bar. The man behind it began to protest, but she ignored him.

"Can I have everyone's attention please?" she shouted as loudly as she could.

A couple of humans looked at her and went back to what they were doing. None of the others even indicated that they'd heard her. That was when D became frustrated. She did the one thing she knew for sure would get the attention of every person in the room. She let the frustration grow like it had when she and Rayman had gotten attacked by Dark Rayman.

It grew and grew until it became anger. She didn't hold up the barrier she usually did when she got angry and the fire was allowed to come out. It covered her entire being, dancing across her skin, yet not burning. It was like merely having the sun shine on her. The fire grew until it was three times her size. She could no longer even be seen through it.

Then her rage was exhausted. The fire died down until it was gone. D could see every person in the room looking at her in horror. Even Rayman was surprised by her action. Satisfied, D began to speak loudly to the crowd.

"My friend and I need a guide. We have to get to Helm Mountain. Is there anyone in this room who can help us? And if not, do you know anyone who can?"

No one answered. D became frustrated again. This time, she held up the barrier that held back her fire and jumped from the bar. But before she was done she decided to take it a little farther.

She turned to the man behind the bar. "I won't do that again if you give us a room for the night." She wouldn't do it again anyway, but he didn't need to know that.

"Yes, ma'am." The man said, still looking terrified. He pointed to a hallway to the right. "Down the hall, third door on the left."

"Thank you." D said and looked around for Rayman.

It was Rayman that found her, though. "What was that?" He asked.

"I was having trouble getting attention." D said.

"Well you certainly got their attention. But we still don't have a guide."

"We do have a room, though." D said and led Rayman down the hall. She counted the doors on the left until she reached the third and then opened it.

The room was half the size of the room they had just been in. Two beds were lined up against each the left and right walls. A table was placed beside each one. An open window was on the far wall. A lit candle that was almost out burned on one of the tables.

"I wonder if you would have gotten a better room if you had actually burned something." Rayman joked and sat on one of the beds.

"At least we won't get rained on tonight." D said and sat on the one across from his. She glanced at the open window. "So what do we do if Dark Rayman comes in?"

Rayman was silent for a moment. "Haven't thought about that. I guess we sleep in shifts and keep watch. That bar keeper might decide he wants your necklace anyway."

"Yeah. Good idea." D said. "Who takes the first watch?"

"I can if you're tired." Rayman said.

Thunder crashed right above their room, making the tables vibrate. Rain began to fall from the sky and the wind blew it into their room.

"I'll take the first watch." D said. "Want me to close the window?"

"If you want to." Rayman said. "I'd rather you didn't. If we stay over here the rain won't reach us. It'll get hot if we close it."

D nodded. "Okay. Get some sleep."

Rayman pulled back the covers and got into the bed. He blew out the candle, sending the room into darkness. In moments, he was asleep.

D got off her bed and went to the window. Rain sprayed on her face, but it felt good. She could see out the window into the night, even though it was dark. The streets were deserted. letting the rain hit the pavement and create puddles that shimmered as the rain added to them. The sound of the rain hitting the ground was soothing to D. It calmed every nerve, relaxed every muscle. Almost made her sleepy.

But she had to stay awake and keep watch. A flash of lightning illuminated the village, snapping D out of her trance. For that instant, she thought she saw a dark figure in the street walking towards the window.

The first thing that came to her mind was Dark Rayman. Had the coward come here to finish Rayman off in his sleep? Or was it someone else, like that evil the teensies had told her about? Had it come to stop her from beating it to the magic thing she was supposed to find?

When the lightning had stopped, D could not see the dark figure. Maybe it had just been her imagination. But she still felt uneasy. She moved away from the window and back to the bed.

She leaned up against the wall and stared at the ceiling. She was getting bored now.

Lightning sent its white light through the window, creating a white square of light on the wall. It flashed twice, showing the white square, then a third time, when a shadow was in the middle of the square.

D's heart leapt and she turned her head to the window. Lightning flashed again and nothing was there. She knew it wasn't her imagination this time. She had seen that shadow.

She got out of the bed and looked around. No one was in the room besides Rayman. And he still slept in his bed. Maybe the person was outside.

Her heart pounding, D slowly walked closer to the window. When she was a few feet away from it, she moved to the left, looking out the window to the right. Nothing was there. She moved to the right to see out the left. Nothing there either. She wasn't going to stick her head out the window to look. That was begging for trouble.

She decided to go back to the bed. She turned around and to her surprise, someone was right behind her. Her heart skipped a beat and then raced three times as fast as it was before.

The man was limbless, like D and Rayman. He looked very much like Rayman, but there were differences. His hair was dark and hung wild, and yet neat at the same time, like he had styled it that way. It made him look very attractive. His eyes were green like the leaves on the trees outside. Instead of a purple shirt with a white ring in the middle, he had a black one with a red ring and a red dot in the middle, like a bull's eye. His shoes were bigger and green with splotches of gray. Instead of white gloves on his hands like Rayman had, he had black biking gloves. Two, large, bat-like wings folded over him and came together above his bull's eye, looking similar to a cape.

"What do you want?" D tried to ask, but something about his eyes held her hypnotized. She wanted to break free from the spell, and part of her just wanted to give in to his power. Either way, she could not move.

Don't be afraid. A voice came into her head, coming from the man. I won't drain you.

He moved closer with amazing speed. His mouth opened, revealing two fangs in his top row of teeth. This snapped D out of her trance and she was able to at least call for help.

"Rayman!" she shouted.

The man stopped. "What?" he asked.

Rayman opened his eyes. He became completely awake when he saw the other limbless man in the room. "A vampire!" he exclaimed when he saw the fangs.

"Rayman...is that you?" the vampire asked.

Ignoring the question, Rayman got out of the bed. "Get away from her!" He wound up his fist, preparing to punch him.

"Rayman, it's me, Neshae." the vampire said.

Rayman stopped the punch. "Who are you?"

"I'm your brother. Don't you remember?"

It was hard to see Rayman's expression in the darkness, but D could tell he was shocked. She was shocked and she was in a whole different position. Rayman had told her on the way here about how his memories had been erased.

"You're my brother?" Rayman asked.

"Yeah. We're twins." Neshae said. "Not identical twins, but still twins."

They were up most of the night and D fell asleep. But before she did the twins told each other their stories. Rayman had woken up on a beach after a rainy night without any memory other than his name. Since then he had saved the world three times. D managed to hear that Neshae had been bitten by a vampire years ago and the vampire turned him into one, but she fell asleep before she could hear anything else.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Rayman woke up as the sunlight came through the window and hit his face. It was well into the morning. He and Neshae had been up most of the night. His brother had told him about things that had happened when they were growing up and Rayman convinced him to lead them to Helm Mountain.

D began to stir. She sat up in the bed and leaned against the wall. Rayman did the same.

"Morning." He said.

"Morning." She answered. "What time is it?"

"Don't know." Rayman said. "But I got Neshae to take us to Helm last night."

"So my actions did get us a guide after all. If I hadn't done that we wouldn't have gotten this room and I wouldn't have gotten attacked." D said.

"Hey! I was the one who convinced him to take us!" Rayman said. He wasn't trying to take all the credit and he knew she wasn't either. They were both just joking around.

D's eyes fell on Neshae, who was sleeping in the bed next to Rayman's. "Any idea when he's going to wake up?"

Rayman shook his head. "No. But when he does we'll get going."

D's stomach growled. "I wonder how long it's been since I've eaten." She said.

Rayman realized he was hungry as well. "I'll go get something to eat." He said, getting out of the bed.

"I hope you don't plan on getting it from that human in there. He'd probably charge you something for it." D said.

"I'll figure something out." Rayman said and went out the door.

He walked through the hallway and entered the room he and D had been in last night. A few men were still up. They stared into space as they suffered their hangovers. The bar keeper took a loaf of bread and a knife out of a cabinet behind the bar. He was about to slice it when he looked towards the door for a moment.

A drunken man had been on his way outside and fell asleep halfway to the door. The bar keeper climbed over the bar and began hauling the man outside. Rayman seized his opportunity.

He quickly took the loaf of bread off the bar and threw it into the hallway he had come out of, then sat at a table and stared into space.

When the bar keeper returned and noticed the bread was gone, he looked at Rayman. "Did you see what happened to my bread?" He asked.

"I might have." Rayman said. "But my friend and I need some breakfast. If you make us some, I'll tell you what happened."

"Done. Where did it go?"

"It left." Rayman looked out the door. It wasn't a lie. The bread did leave and he just happened to look out the door. If the bar keeper thought he meant that's where the bread went that was his problem.

"Thanks." He said and went out the door. He came back a moment later with another loaf of bread.

"Idiot thought he could steal bread from me and just sit outside the door." He then began preparing breakfast. He fried some eggs, bacon, and a couple buttered slices of bread. He put both plates of food on a tray and handed that to Rayman.

"Thank you." Rayman said and took the tray. When they left he would have to give the hidden loaf of bread to the man sitting outside. Rayman hadn't prepared for something like that to happen. He had planned to return the bread when the bar keeper turned around again, just like he had taken it.

When Rayman returned to the room he and D were staying in, she was still in the joking mood.

"If it took me bursting into flames to get this room, what did you have to do to get that? Kill someone?" she asked.

"No. I just tricked the bar keeper. Here you go." He said, handing D her plate. Conveniently enough, Neshae woke up as they were done eating.

"Hello, early birds. What did the bat miss?"

Rayman couldn't help but smile. Neshae had revealed that he was a little on the crazy side last night. "Not a thing. We've just been waiting for you to get up so we can get going."

"I'm ready." He got out of the bed and jumped out the window. "Bar keeper doesn't like me much. I'm going this way. Meet you on the other side."

"I thought vampires burst into flames in the sunlight." Rayman said.

"Not bursting, am I?" he said and disappeared around the corner. The sunlight theory must have just been a stereotype that had somehow gotten there through rumors spread by humans over time.

"Well, let's go." Rayman said and put a hand on the door knob. But before he turned it, he heard a voice outside.

"That's my bread!" the bar keeper exclaimed. "That little bastard tricked me!"

"Let's not go that way." D said.

"Yeah." Rayman nodded and turned around. They both climbed out the window as the door to their room opened and a furious bar keeper came in.

They ran around the corner and met up with Neshae. "Come on." Rayman said. He and D were laughing. It was kind of thrilling to run out of that situation.

"What happened?" he asked as he ran beside Rayman.

"Almost got caught." Rayman answered.

"Well, if we're going to get to Helm, we'd better go this way." Neshae said and made a sudden, sharp turn to the right, through an alley.

Rayman and D skidded to a stop and turned right behind him. The alley led outside the town and they were soon back inside the trees.

---

A group of four people walked on the desert sand. The girl had not returned to their meeting point as they had planned. Something happened to her and they were going to find out what.

Earlier that morning, they had split up to search for signs of her passing in every direction, one of them had found tracks going East, way off course, telepathically told the others, and they all went that way and found the tracks. Now they followed them on East.

"She was running." The first said. He was a young elf. He wore a sandy colored cloak for camouflage like all the others. A strung bow and quiver of arrows hung on his back as he looked intently at the tracks. "There aren't any from Tempistus. He must have been following her by air."

"He flew on the beast of a man." Said the second. He was a human. His hair was dark and short. His eyes were white and sightless, but he could see past time and space. The only problem was he spoke in riddles. "He can change, but would rather purify the sinned by forcing them into his clan."

"What he means," the third started. It was a human woman with gold hair and eyes. Her hair blew in the wind in waves like grain in a field and stood still by her shoulders. "is that Tempistus can shape shift, but he prefers to change men he considers 'impure' into his slaves. By doing this, he 'purifies' them, forcing them into his service." The woman was the man's wife and was able to translate everything her husband said, even when he spoke more clearly than usual and she didn't need to.

The fourth was quiet. His hair was dark and came to just above his shoulders. His skin was slightly paler than the others and his eyes were black. One hand stayed on the hilt of his sword, and the other up at his chest, playing with a small, gold charm on a small, gold chain. The charm was a simple letter "A".

Where are you? He thought.

They reached the edge of a cliff. The elf began telling the story based on the tracks, for new sets of tracks had appeared, normal sized and four times bigger. "She stopped here, nearly falling off the edge. She turned around, I guess when the beast landed. Then she started running again. She ran along the edge, this way. This part has turned to glass. He must have shot lightning or something else at her. It barely missed, but the tracks stopped here. She must have gone over the edge."

No. The fourth thought.

"She still lives." The blind man said. "In the body of another, in a world unknown to us, in the blackness of the mind, she is pursued by two enemies while a third is ahead and has with her, two friends, she searches for that which she has lost."

The wife translated, though there as no need. "She fell off the edge, but opened a portal to another world. I think he said her form was changed. She has bumped her head and lost her memory. And she is searching for the Snake Cross Amulet. It must have fallen off of her when she was falling. She has two friends helping her and two enemies chasing after her. I guess the third must be Tempistus, just ahead of her, searching for the amulet."

"Then let's go after her." The fourth said and held out his hand. He looked at the elf, whose strength was greater than that of a human's. "I may need you to help me walk after this. This will take some energy."

The elf nodded.

He then turned to the blind man and his wife. "Can you help me sense which world to open a portal into?"

The blind man held out his hand. The fourth man took it with his other hand. He felt the knowledge go into his head and created the portal. Wisps of yellow, white, and black gas appeared in a circle above the ground.

The fourth man lost most of his energy creating the portal. The elf did need to help support him. Then together, all four of them jumped into the portal after their friend.

---

The sun was beginning to set in the distance when Rayman, D, and Neshae decided to stop and take a rest. They had been walking for hours.

"We're almost there." Neshae said as he sat down against a tree, facing the way they had just come. Rayman and D sat against another tree, facing him.

"So what happened?" Rayman asked Neshae. "Where are our parents? How were we separated?"

There was a look of pain in Neshae's eyes for a moment and he looked at the ground. "That is difficult to say..." he started, then looked up at Rayman. "Dad--who is that?" he asked, looking past him.

Rayman stood up and turned around and D leaned around the tree to look. A purple fist shot at Rayman. He ducked and jumped behind the tree. Now, both D and Neshae stood up as well.

The fist went backwards toward its owner, Dark Rayman, but Neshae caught it as it went past him. Then he ran at the enemy. Rayman saw what was happening and ran after Neshae to try to stop him. Neshae was a vampire and hadn't had blood in a while.

"Stop!" Rayman called to his brother.

Too late. Neshae and Dark Rayman ran into each other and Neshae bit him. In moments, Dark Rayman was drained.

"Hardly any blood in that zombie." Neshae observed.

"Great. You killed him." Rayman stopped. "If we defeat him, he comes back even stronger."

The body dissolved into the orbs of light. D ran up next to Rayman as he started backing up.

"D, do you think you could do earth magic? We need to trap him somehow to keep him from following us."

D and Neshae backed up as well. The body completely dissolved and began reforming.

"I can try." D said.

Dark Rayman's body fully materialized. He stood up and shook his head. "That ass hole bit me!" He said. He wound up his fist, preparing for another blow.

Rayman gave D a sideways glance. Her eyes were closed, concentrating. He felt magic surging through her and then shoot at the trees around them.

Branches shot from the trees and wrapped around Dark Rayman as the fist was released. One branch caught the fist halfway between Rayman and Dark Rayman. The evil twin struggled to get free, but was unable.

"Thanks, D." Rayman said. "Now let's get going again before he finds a way to get out of that."

Dark Rayman saw the three turn and start walking away. He struggled with all his strength. The wood began to snap as he slowly began to get free.

Rayman turned around just as Dark Rayman lunged at him.

---

D turned around. It all happened in slow motion. Rayman did not have time to react. It was up to her. She dropped to the ground and put her hands on a flat stone. She concentrated, felt the essence of the rock itself, the personality of it. In doing so, she was able to convince it to shoot up around Dark Rayman, lightning fast.

---

Rayman gazed in total shock as his life was narrowly saved by stone shooting from the ground around Dark Rayman. The rock changed around Dark Rayman until it was a sphere of polished stone on the ground. Even with his new strength, Dark Rayman would not get out of this one.

"Thanks for that." Rayman said as D stood up.

"Don't mention it." D said. All three of them turned around to keep going.

It was another half hour before they reached Helm Mountain. It wasn't big enough to be considered a mountain. It was only ten feet high. A large boulder marked the entrance to the final resting place of Kweniah.

Even though the sun set, making the shadows of the trees point left, the shadow of Helm pointed right, covering entirely a hole in the ground that was about twenty feet across. A veil of darkness covered the top of the hole, not allowing any of them to see more than three feet into it.

"In the shadow of the Helm..." Rayman repeated a line from the rhyme.

"Those who jump will never land, those who climb will never stand..." D repeated the next two lines.

"Must be some kind of bottomless pit spell to keep anyone from bothering her." Rayman said. "So lets not jump or climb down there."

"Those who call into the night must say the word that is right..." D repeated the next two lines.

"Well, it doesn't hurt to try." Rayman said. Then he shouted in the hole, "Hello!"

At first nothing happened. "I'll try again." Rayman said.

The wind picked up, startling all three of them. The wind blew the leaves together. The swishing and howling of the wind seemed to form words. The words said, "Who are you?"

"I am Rayman." Rayman said. Gesturing towards D, to his left, he said, "This is D, and," gesturing to Neshae to his right, he said, "Neshae."

The wind blew again, this time saying, "What do you want?"

"We need a way to get to the Desert of the Knaaren. We were told you could help." Rayman answered.

The wind blew once more, saying, "Password..."

"Okay." Rayman said to D and Neshae. "What do we say?"

"Repeat the last couple lines of that poem you just said." Neshae told D.

"Those who call into the night must say the word that is right." D said.

"Exactly. Maybe we have to take the poem completely literally. Maybe the password is right. We have to say the word that is 'right.'" Neshae said.

"Doesn't hurt to try." D said.

"Right!" Rayman called into the hole.

The scenery around them blurred into smears of green and brown and spun until it was all one color. Then that color turned completely dark brown and separated, then cleared. They were at the bottom of the hole, looking up at the sky overhead. The hole was only fifteen feet deep. Light shone down to a small cottage at the bottom of the hole.

"I guess we picked right." Neshae said and walked up to the door. He knocked. Rayman and D came up behind him.

Nothing happened. Neshae knocked on the door again. Still, nothing happened. He turned the knob and the door opened.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" D asked. "That witch doesn't have a good reputation. If we break in, she could turn us into something, like one of her chairs."

"That's gotta be a horrible fate." Neshae said and walked in.

Rayman and D looked at each other, then followed him. The door closed behind them, submerging them in total blackness.

A door opened ahead of them. Their hearts were racing. Would she really turn them into chairs? A light came from behind the door, illuminating a woman in a black dress with a black veil, over her face. And features other than her silvery hair were impossible to make out through the veil.

"Please, sit." the woman said in an old, wise voice. Light came from seemingly nowhere. A table and four chairs stood in the middle of the room, but other than that, the room was completely empty. "I've been expecting you."

"You have?" D asked.

"Yes. Now sit." the woman took the seat closest to her.

Rayman, D, and Neshae all took places at the table. The woman began to speak again.

"I know why you have come. You seek the Snake Cross Amulet."

"If you know why we're here then why did you ask us before?" D asked.

"I like using wind magic. I use it whenever I can." She continued. "The magical item that you have been sent to search for is called the Snake Cross Amulet. And the evil you are racing to it is a powerful shape shifting sorcerer name Tempistus, meaning 'the storm.' He sees the world as 'impure' and wishes to destroy it and recreate it in his image. You must get to the amulet before he does."

"So will you teleport us to the desert?" Rayman asked.

"Yes." the witch answered. "For a price. And although most people would ask you to go on a quest for a favor or a great challenge that only few can pass, that can wait. All I ask is that when I call upon you three for a favor, that you will help me. Can you make that promise?"

"Yes." Rayman said.

"And how about the rest of you? Can you make that promise?"

"Yes." D said.

Neshae nodded.

The witch pulled a green stone out of her dress sleeve. It was cut into a hexagonal shape and polished. It almost glowed because of its vibrant color.

"Now," she said, "you must promise me through the stone. You must promise me that you will do me a favor when I ask for it." The stone glowed and the light around the room dimmed. "Touch the stone."

Neshae was the first to lay a hand on the stone. The light from the stone got brighter and the light in the room dimmed more. Then Rayman touched the stone. The green light brightened and the yellow light dimmed.

"Touch the stone." the woman told D.

D reached out and touched the stone. The light from the room completely turned black and the stone blazed as if it were on fire. Peridot colored flames leapt from the stone in the witch's hand, but did not burn neither her not the three. The flames caused the air to move all around them, making hair go wild.

The light intensified until the entire room was full of it and they thought they might go blind. Rayman closed his eyes.

Then it was over. Rayman opened his eyes and took his hand off the stone. So did D and Neshae. The stone was no longer green. The edges seemed black, while the heart of the stone gleamed violet.

"This stone shall hold all three of you to your word." the witch said. "It will also hold me to mine. But I cannot teleport anyone anywhere tonight. Getting you three down here took enough of my energy. I need rest. Not as young as I used to be. I will teleport you to the Desert of the Knaaren in the morning. Come."

The witch stood from the table and went through the door she had come out of earlier. They got up and followed her. On the other side was a hallway with five doors on either side and one door at the very back. It seemed strange, since from the outside, the house had seemed only big enough to hold one, maybe two rooms. The witch opened the first door to the left.

"D, this will be your room." she said.

D went through the door. "Goodnight." she said before closing it.

The witch opened the second door to the left. "Neshae, this is your room."

"Night." Neshae said and disappeared into his room.

The witch opened the third door to the left. "Rayman, this is your room." She said.

Rayman entered the room. The witch closed the door behind him. There was nothing in the small room but a bed. The wooden walls were the same in this room as they were in every other room of the house.

He got in bed, surprised by how comfortable it was. He fell asleep the minute his head hit the pillow.

---

He was a kid again. He had just turned thirteen that day. All he could see at the moment was the cake. It was in the shape of a sword. It had been Neshae's turn to pick the cake and he always liked his father's sword.

Neshae was next to him. His hair was shorter because his mom kept it cut. He didn't have fangs or bat wings. His mother was to his left. She had almost white blond hair that came halfway down her length. It made her green eyes stand out. She was also limbless.

Their dad was next to her. His hair was dark like Neshae's but stuck out almost like Rayman's. Around his neck was Rayman's old bandanna. His eyes were blue like Rayman's. He too was limbless. Around his waist was a thick, brown belt with a handle wedged inside. Rayman knew that the handle was to his father's fire sword. A sword that few people could use.

On the other side of the table were friends and family members. His old girlfriend, their grandparents, his and Neshae's best friends, the friend of the family, all of them limbless just like him.

They sang the birthday song that they sang for him and Neshae every year for their birthday. The lawn was green and cut. The pool had floating things in it that moved along the surface in the breeze. The branches of the trees swayed in the wind. The flames on the thirteen candles flickered, threatening to go out before the twins could blow them out.

Everything was peaceful. As they had every year before, Rayman and Neshae took a deep breath and blew out each candle. Then the cake was served.

It was a few months later now. The dawn sky lit up red as fire. Runes of prophesy danced over the clouds. A dark figure sent blasts of fire to houses, causing them to burst into flames. People were screaming. Rayman was running. His hand was gripped tightly by his mother's. It was the only way to keep him going instead of fighting by his father's side. Neshae had the other hand, pulling him along as well. Around his neck, was his father's red bandanna.

They crashed on a new planet. Neshae had disappeared. Rayman saw a door on the side of what looked like a mountain. He seemed to fly towards the door. It opened and the woman from before was inside, blackness surrounding her. Her hood was still up, obscuring her face as always.

"This is where you will find your past." she said. "Just be careful. Danger lurks within these walls. And pain. Your memories were erased for a reason."

A sudden image of a hand shooting at him from the other side of a river of lava jerked him awake. He looked around, confused for a second. Then realizing it was just a dream, he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

---

It was light in the forest. Dawn had just broken over the horizon. A figure could be seen in the dim light. He was garbed in a black cloak and wearing a black hat that stuck out just short of his arm span on his head, not revealing any of his face except for his large, yellow eyes.

The figure walked through the trees until he found what he sought. It was a sphere of stone, Dark Rayman's prison. He held a hand over the stone and it dissolved back into the ground, setting free the deadly weapon within.

The evil twin had just suffocated. His body was dissolving into the hundred little lights and came back together. His eyes opened and he stood up.

"Thank you master." Dark Rayman said.

"Don't let this happen again." The dark figure said.

"I won't. I've gotten stronger since they trapped me. I probably could have broken free in a few minutes." Dark Rayman said.

"Good. Now go find Rayman. He must not get in the way like his father."

Dark Rayman nodded and turned around. He could sense Rayman's aura about half an hour's walk away. He was close.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

D was running. She held the Snake Cross Amulet tightly to her chest. Her legs felt heavy, like they had been turned to stone. She was exhausted, having run all night. It was morning now. She had to meet with her friends soon, but she was way off course.

She reached a cliff. The beast landed and the evil got off. She ran and was thrown off the cliff. Her heart pounded as the ground got closer. There was one thing she could do to save herself. But what was it? Her name was different. What was it? She had a whole other life before this one. What was it?

"D, wake up." said a voice and a hand touched her.

D opened her eyes. She was back in the room in the witch's house. Rayman stood over her. It had been his voice and his hand. Neshae stood next to the door with a bag in his hand. The witch was nowhere to be seen. "What time is it?" she asked.

"Dawn. We have to get going. The witch says Tempistus is very close to the amulet by now and we have to teleport now if we're going to beat him to it." Rayman explained.

D sat up and slid out of the bed. "What's in the bag?" she asked.

"Something to eat. We won't have time to eat before we leave." Neshae said.

They left the hallway and entered the room where they had touched the stone the previous night. The witch stood by a far wall and a pool of glowing, aqua colored liquid with a red-orange center swirled in the middle of the floor.

"Jump in before my energy is used up." the witch said.

"Thank you." Rayman said. "Bye." He jumped in.

Neshae waved. "I'm gonna miss this place!" He said loudly because he merely felt like it, then jumped in.

"Hurry, child." the woman said. The portal began to shrink. D jumped in before it closed.

In an instant, she was standing in a dark tunnel. Rayman and Neshae were next to her. Brownish colored stones made up the ceiling, while the floor itself was dirt. Torches hung on the walls. A few openings in the walls were blocked by stone bars with barbs sprouting from the sides.

"We're in the knaaren tunnels." Rayman said. "I'd recognize this place anywhere. Let's just hope we can find this amulet before we get caught by knaaren."

"What exactly are knaaren?" Neshae asked as they walked though the tunnel.

"They're invincible, they're deadly, and they're carnivorous." Rayman answered. "You'll see what one looks like in a minute or two. These tunnels are swarming with them."

"Do you think we'll find out what they were doing in the forest while we're here?" D asked.

"I hope so. I'll bet Dark has something to do with it." Rayman said.

The ground shook under them and collapsed. All three of them fell through it and landed in another hallway just like the other, only this one had a few knaaren in it. The knaaren looked at them for a moment, as surprised as they were.

"Run!" Rayman said and ran in the direction without the knaaren. D and Neshae followed close behind, followed by the knaaren.

There was a fork in the path, one direction going left and one going right. As they approached the fork, knaaren came out of the right path, forcing them into the left one. Neshae was the first to enter, then Rayman, then D.

The ground shook under Neshae's feet as he ran over it. He made it across before it collapsed, but Rayman and D fell through with it. When they landed, they saw knaaren jump over the hole after Neshae. He could not join them down there.

"How many times is the floor going to collapse beneath us?" D asked.

"At least there aren't knaaren down here. But look!" Rayman pointed past D.

Up on an altar of bones, a glowing, blue cross floated gracefully. D walked up the steps to the altar and as she did, she got a better look at it. The cross was made of glowing, blue snakes, bound together by the ring around them. A chain was attached to the longest snake's mouth. This was the Snake Cross Amulet. They had found it.

D picked up the amulet and put it on. She would not loose it again. Now she just had to remember how to use it.

"Woah!" Rayman cried out in surprise behind her. D turned around and saw five knaaren coming at them through the one opening in the room. They were trapped.

"Got any ideas?" D whispered.

One of the knaaren spoke to them. "So you are the one who killed Reflux, the one they call Rayman."

"Yes." Rayman said.

"Reflux was my best friend." the knaaren said. "These are our other friends." He gestured to the four other knaaren around him. "We have vowed to slay the one who has caused our suffering."

"Wait!" Rayman said. "Wouldn't you rather fight me first? Wouldn't you like defeating me in battle and then killing me better than just killing me?"

"We know better than to fall for that." A second knaaren said. "Reflux was a greater warrior than all of us and you defeated him."

"I actually only killed his staff." Rayman said. "In the end, it was the scepter he stole that killed him."

"Alright." the first knaaren said. "Let's fight."

"Let me fight." D said.

"What?" Rayman asked.

"Let me fight. I might be able to remember how to use the amulet. You don't stand a chance fist fighting something invincible."

"Okay." Rayman stepped back to let her fight.

A third knaaren slammed his fist against the wall, causing rocks to fall around Rayman, creating a cage of stone. That way, he would not be able to help D fight.

The knaaren approached D. She tried to feel the amulet's power, to find its source, its inner core, its essence, to find a way to unlock its magic. Nothing happened.

She backed up to avoid being caught by a knaaren. She decided to try anything else she could throw at it. She let her rage come out and concentrated it in her hand, forming a fire ball. She threw it at the closest knaaren. It merely dissolved into a flicker and disappeared as it hit the creature's skin, not even leaving a mark.

She tried earth magic next. She dropped to the ground, her hands flat on the stone, and felt the essence of the rock like she had back in the forest when she trapped Dark Rayman in the stone.

Spears of rock shot out of the floor and at the knaaren. They batted the spears away as they came, causing them to shatter. D gazed for a moment in disbelief as the fragments hit the stone next to her hands.

Claws wrapped themselves around her waist. Her feet left the ground as one of the knaaren picked her up. Her heart pounded in her chest, going faster than she thought was possible. A painful knot tied in her stomach.

The other knaaren gathered around to join in the feast. Behind them, she could hear Rayman cry out her name. If she was going to remember a power that could save her this was the moment to do it. This was the last chance she had. This was the last moment.

She suddenly felt like her soul was moving on its own, separate from her body. She could move her arms and reach out wherever she wanted, as far as she wanted.

D looked up at the knaaren that had a hold of her. Her eyes seemed as cold as steel as they sent a piercing stare directly into his eyes. The knaaren hesitated for a moment, unsure of what was going to happen. Now that there was a distraction, D punched at the knaaren with her soul. It immediately let go of her and flew across the room, crashing into a wall. She dropped to the ground in the middle of all the knaaren.

"Why you little..." another knaaren said and came at her.

D held out her hand and reached out again, sending that knaaren against the wall as well.

The others did not want to stick around for her to attack them also. They helped their friends to their feet and ran off down the tunnel from whence they came.

"That was amazing!" Rayman said. "What did you do?"

"It wasn't the amulet, I can tell you that." D told him. "Now how are we going to get you out of there?"

Rayman pushed on one of the stone bars. D pulled on the same bar, adding her strength to his. It cracked at the bottom and fell over, creating a gateway for him to come out.

"No problem." He said.

The wall behind him exploded. Rocks flew everywhere. The ground shook, knocking Rayman and D to the ground. One rock hit Rayman's head, knocking him out.

When the dust cleared, D saw a figure walk through the hole in the wall and into the room. Everything about this man was white, from his cloak, to his hair, even his eyes.

Purity...D thought. Tempistus sees the world as impure and wishes to destroy it.

The man looked at D, then at the amulet hanging from around where her neck would be if she had one.

"Give me that amulet." He said.

D shook her head.

"Give it to me and I will spare your life." the man said.

"You're Tempistus, aren't you?" D asked.

"I am. Now give me the amulet if you wish to see another day." Tempistus demanded.

"No." D said.

Tempistus held out a hand. "Then I will kill you first."

D held the amulet in front of her. "I wouldn't try that. If you hurt me, you're going to hurt the amulet."

"I see. We're going to play that game." Tempistus turned his gaze to Rayman, who was still unconscious on the floor. "Two can play it."

Seeing what was happening, D let her rage out and concentrated it in her hand, like she had when fighting the knaaren. A fire ball formed.

Tempistus picked up Rayman and held him in front of him. "I wouldn't try that. If you hurt me, you're going to hurt him."

D's heart pounded again. She watched helplessly as Tempistus reached up and blew a hole through what appeared to be four ceilings, revealing a mid-morning sky. A massive, winged beast that was five times her size flew in. Its body was like that of a lion, except for its black fur. And its head was like that of a bird with black feathers. Huge bat wings sprouted out of its back, allowing the creature to fly. Around its neck was a silver collar with reins attached.

It landed between her and Tempistus. The sorcerer climbed onto the beast's back and gave it a command in a language D couldn't understand. The beast flew back up through the hole. D's stomach clenched, because with it, it carried Rayman.

"Watch out! Coming through!"

D looked into the tunnel that the knaaren had come through. Neshae ran towards her, with the knaaren they had first encountered still following.

"Neshae!" D called. "Tempistus got Rayman!"

"What?" Neshae stopped when he reached her. He glanced back at the knaaren. To buy more time, he threw the bag of food the witch had given him at them. "We're going after him." Then taking hold of D's waist, he spread his wings and flew through the ceilings, leaving the knaaren behind.

Once in the air, they looked around for any sign of Tempistus.

"There!" D said, pointing towards a black blob in the sky. The beast was flying fast.

Neshae took off after them like a bullet. As they got closer to Tempistus, D saw him turn around to look at them. Then he turned the beast around and flew back, then stopped when he was close enough. Neshae stopped too. They both hovered for a moment.

"You have my brother." Neshae said.

"And your friend has my amulet. Bring it to me in the mountain over there" Tempistus pointed to a mountain in the distance, surrounded by trees at the edge of the desert, "if you ever want to see him again."

Tempistus turned the beast around and it flew away, faster than Neshae had been flying before. Neshae flew after him, though not fast enough to keep up.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The white figure stood alone in the dark room. A dark figure entered from the doorway at the side.

Tempistus looked at the stranger. It was Dark, a villain he had met a few years ago.

"You have something I want." Dark said. "A hostage you picked up. He's limbless."

"What about him?" Tempistus asked.

"Our paths have crossed before. I want revenge."

"All you want is to make sure that prophesy does not come true." Tempistus said. "It isn't revenge. It's fear. I can smell it on you. But if you do something for me, I can get rid of him for you. Our paths have crossed as well. And you can get rid of the other two of his species in the process."

"There are more of them?" Dark asked. "How? The rest of them were killed years ago."

"I don't know. One of them claims to be his brother. The other is a girl. She has the Snake Cross Amulet. Bring that to me and your problem will be solved." Tempistus said.

Dark nodded, then left the room.

---

The four made it to the other side of the portal. They had fallen into what was called the Fairy Counsel and met small creatures called Teensies. The fourth had used the last of his energy to create a vortex under them as they fell through the sky so their landing would be softer. He fell asleep the instant they landed.

He opened his eyes. Alaesia had been here. He knew it. He grabbed one of the teensies and held it against the wall.

"A girl was here. She fell through the ceiling like I did. Where is she?" He demanded.

"Calm down." the elf said, putting a hand on his arm. "They told us where she went already. She is going after the amulet in the Desert of the Knaaren. Now put the teensie down."

He put down the teensie, who ran off to the side to avoid being attacked again.

The elf continued. "They said she doesn't remember who she is, but because of the necklace you gave her, she is calling herself 'D'. When she fell through that energy in the room, she changed. She has no limbs."

"Are you saying she is a worm now?" He asked, his anger growing.

"He is not well." The blind man said. "Too little rest and infection of the heart, caused by fear of loosing the one he--"

"Enough." the fourth man said. He needed more rest. But that would have to wait. He had to find her. "How do we get to the desert?"

"Our portal is fully repaired by now. There's isn't much of a chance she'll be there so soon without it." Another teensie said.

"I don't care." the fourth man said. "Just get me over there."

The teensie pointed to the far wall. A green light shone through a hole in the floor. The fourth man staggered to it and jumped in. The other three followed behind him.

---

Rayman opened his eyes. His head felt like his brain had just exploded inside it. The last thing he remembered was D fighting the knaaren.

D! He thought. He looked around. She was nowhere. He was in a dark, almost dungeon-like room. It was massive. Designs were carved into the stone that must have taken centuries to create. Three walls of bars separated Rayman from the rest of the room. He was in a cage bolted to the wall.

"You have proven to be quite valuable." Said a voice from the left.

Rayman looked in that direction. A man walked into the room. It was the man he had seen just before the rock hit him. Tempistus.

The man continued. "Your friends are going to trade the Snake Cross Amulet for you and so is Mister Dark. Now the race begins. I must admit, I did not think you'd accomplish so much value when I first met you."

"You know me?" Rayman asked.

"You don't remember?" Tempistus asked. "Maybe this will help." He transformed into a giant, white spider, then back. "Familiar?"

"No."

"Maybe that ocean you crossed erased your memory. What is the farthest thing you can remember?"

Hoping to find a clue to his missing past, Rayman told him about the day he woke up after the rainy night under the palm tree.

"That makes sense. Someone erased your memories to protect you from the pain of your past." Tempistus said. "But stories are meant to be told. You and your mother crashed in my forest in an escape pod. You came into my house for shelter from a gathering storm. She seemed troubled, though she did not tell me what the problem was.

"Dark and I had met years before. He made it clear that he wanted all of your kind dead. He was afraid of a prophesy. So when you two came in, I decided to help him out a little.

"I chased you down outside. Well, it wasn't really outside the mountain, I just like to make it magically look like outside. You were doing pretty well, keeping ahead of me and not getting yourselves killed in the process. But at one point, you decided to turn around and fight.

"I almost had you a that moment. But your mother flung herself between us and I caught her instead." He shrugged. "Just an easier catch."

Rayman's heart pounded with a rage he had never known before. Had this man really killed his mother all those years ago?

"I chased you further down. You managed to find my back door. You made it through and I reached through and caught you. You hung onto the door and a woman appeared on the other side. She shot something at me and there was a bright light. You slipped out of my grasp and the door closed. As I was reopening it, I saw you grab a piece of my wood and floated off into the ocean."

Rayman wound up his fist. Now he knew why he could not remember anything. If he had remembered something like that back then, he would not have been mentally able to handle saving the world right afterwards as good.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. I am only supposed to keep you alive until they bring the amulet. There was never a part of the deal that said you couldn't be missing a hand." Tempistus warned.

He let it wind down. Deep inside him, Rayman somehow knew that the man would be able to merely catch his fist.

Tempistus got up and walked out of the room. "To make things more interesting," his voice rang through the doorway and echoed around the massive room, "your friends only have until sunset to bring it."


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"What happened in there?" Neshae asked as they flew to the mountain.

D explained how they found the amulet and defeated the knaaren with her soul power. Then Tempistus had come in and taken Rayman hostage.

"I recognize that mountain." Neshae said as they approached it. "This is where our pod crashed. The vampire attacked me right outside it. I was able to lure her away from Rayman and Mom, but I wasn't fast enough to escape."

"What are you talking about" D asked.

"We--" Neshae was cut off by a fire ball flying right by his head.

"Woah!"

A dark figure stood on the top of the mountain. Somehow, D knew that this was Dark, the villain Rayman had told her about.

"That's Dark." She said. "He must be trying to get the amulet so we can't save Rayman."

"Ass hole!" Neshae screamed at the dark figure.

"Are you insane?" D asked.

"A little." he answered. A shower of fire flew from Dark's direction. "Hang on, we're going down!"

They flew downward, dodging shards of inferno and narrowly missing being barbecued. Neshae landed on his feet at the base of the mountain and let go of D. He turned around and seemed to be looking for something. Then he found it: a ditch in the ground, looking as if something had crashed there years ago.

"There." He pointed at it. "That's where we landed."

In the corner of her eye, D saw a fire ball come straight for Neshae. She grabbed his hand and spun around, throwing him to the side. The fire ball landed where he had been standing.

"Thanks." Neshae stood up. They ran as more fire balls came at them. Dark was no longer on top of the mountain. There was no telling where he was by now. "Hey, look at this."

He stuck his head into a cave. It seemed pretty small. They would have to crawl to get into it. "It gets bigger inside. Come on." He got on all fours and crawled in.

A fire ball caused a rock to explode next to D. She got down on all fours and crawled in after him. The cave did get bigger inside. Immediately after the entrance they were able to stand up.

The entrance of the cave glowed orange. Both D and Neshae looked at it, realized what was happening, and jumped backward just in time as a blast of fire roared through the entrance and seared the back wall.

When it finally ended, D spotted a tunnel going through the left wall. "In there!" She said, pointing to it.

They ran through it just as another blast lit up the cave. This one was shorter and D swore she heard Dark swear as they escaped.

Their victory did not last long, for Dark crawled through and sent a blast of fire at them. It was a race against the fire now.

"Get down." Neshae dropped to the ground and pulled D with him. She felt the inferno blaze by just over her. The ends of her hair were burned off.

The blast ended. D was grateful to feel cooler air over her at last. They heard footsteps stop just behind them and they rolled over. Dark stood over them.

"As you probably know, I have come for the amulet. Hand it over and your death will be quick and almost painless." He said.

"I remember you." Neshae stood up. "I saw you when we were attacked. You're the one who caused all this!" The vampire pounced at Dark. A wall of fire separated them, forcing him back. "Thanks to you all that's left of my past is painful memories!"

"I guess I should put you out of your misery then." Dark said.

"Where's my father's sword? If you wanted it so bad, why don't you have it?" Neshae demanded.

"You will never get the chance to see it again, so why should I tell you?" Dark shot a fire ball at Neshae. He ducked.

"My father told me about how much of a coward you are." Neshae said. "The instant your opponent gains an advantage over you, you back away. And without your fire, you'd be nothing."

"Is that so?" Dark reached out an arm towards Neshae. Neshae lifted off the ground. Even though he did not have a neck, Dark appeared to be magically strangling him.

"Let him go!" D said and shot her soul arm at Dark. He was sent back a few feet, letting go of Neshae. Neshae dropped to the ground and gasped for air.

D was no longer sure what she was sending at Dark. It just seemed to be a blast of force. "I have had enough," another blast sent him rolling a few more feet. She walked toward him "of bad guys" she sent another blast "kidnapping my friends" another blast "hurting my friends" another blast "and trying to kill my friends" another blast "over a freakin amulet!" a final blast sent him flying through the air.

"You're going to wish you hadn't done that." Dark said as he stood up. He said a word in a language that D didn't understand. The rock that made up the walls, ceiling, and floor of the tunnel rippled like waves from Dark toward D and Neshae.

Neshae stood up and grabbed D's hand. "We've gotta go." He pulled her away and in the next moment, they were running down the tunnel once again.

A soft light came from an exit at the end of the tunnel.

"That's our way out." Neshae said. They jumped out of the hole and fell six feet into a large cavern. "Freedom!"

"Not so loud!" D said when they landed. "Want something else to come after us?"

"Shh..." Neshae put a hand up to quiet her.

D listened. She could faintly hear the echo of Tempistus' voice in the next room. She couldn't make out what he was saying, but she could tell it was his voice.

The two waited until the echo had stopped, then followed where it had come from. They found themselves in a massive chamber with designs carved up and down every wall. To the left was a cage bolted to the wall. Inside the cage was Rayman.

"Rayman!" D exclaimed and ran to the cage. Neshae followed.

Rayman looked up at them. "D! Neshae! What did I miss?"

"Not a lot." D answered him. "Tempistus held you hostage for the amulet and Dark tried to steal it from us. He's still back there somewhere. Don't know why he hasn't caught up yet."

"Maybe he came another way to warn me that you were coming." Said the voice of Tempistus.

"Distract him." Neshae told D. "I'll get Rayman out."

D nodded and stepped toward Tempistus. With lightning speed, she formed a fire ball in her hand and threw it at the sorcerer. He merely blocked it by forming a green, transparent shield in front of him. The fire ball hit it and faded away harmlessly.

Neshae grabbed two of the bars of the cage. He pushed on them with all his strength. Slowly, they began to bend apart.

D tried using her soul power. She reached out and punched at Tempistus. He ducked as if he could actually see where the invisible arm was.

"Did you really think that would work again?" He asked. "Yes, I know who you are. I recognize your powers. You cannot surprise me with them again."

"Almost got it." Neshae grunted from the strain. Rayman added his own strength to the force, helping Neshae bend the bars.

Tempistus reached his arm out towards D. To her surprise, it reached across the entire distance and grabbed her, lifting her off the ground. "You have no power over me." He said, squeezing the life out of her. "I can change into any form I wish. All you can do is knock me down."

"She was about to black out when she saw Rayman's fist slam into the side of Tempistus' head. He let go of her and she fell to the ground, her insides trembling from the shock.

"You okay?" Rayman said, helping her up.

"Let's get going." Neshae said, pushing them toward the way they had come from. "Before we left the witch's house, she told me Tempistus an only shape shift inside his lair. If we can lure him out we can beat him easier.

Rayman nodded. They ran out of the room and into the room where D and Neshae had jumped out of the hole. Only now, the hole was caved in. Their way out was gone. Behind them, Tempistus transformed into a giant, white spider and came after them.

D looked around for another way out. "Over there!" she heard Rayman say. He ran past her to a small passage way in one wall.

They had to hunch over a little to get through it, but it was the only way out. Rayman was in the lead, seeming to know his way around, then D was behind him, and Neshae was in the rear.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"I see light up ahead!" Rayman said. He could remember coming through here. He couldn't remember much, but he could remember Tempistus in spider form chasing behind him and he could remember going this way.

The light came from a square of light in the back wall of the tunnel. It didn't turn left or right, it was a dead end.

---

The spider was coming after him and his mom. He looked around for an escape and found a path going into the wall above their heads, leading to another tunnel. A climbable surface led to the opening, but he had to jump to get to it.

---

The memory was fuzzy, but accurate. Rayman looked up and saw that there was, in fact, a climbable surface that led to an opening to another tunnel.

"Come on." He jumped and grabbed onto the rocks that stuck out of the wall. He climbed up and into the second tunnel. He stayed behind to make sure D and Neshae got through, then continued.

This tunnel was tall enough for them to run through, which was a good thing, because Tempistus climbed up even faster, being a spider.

"Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!" D pushed Rayman along to make him go faster.

"I see light again." Rayman said. "I hope it's natural this time."

"It is!" D said. "I smell water."

When the tunnel ended, they found themselves outside. They were in a swamp terrain with patches of land sticking up out of the water. Up above them was a blue, cloudy sky. But behind them, instead of a mountain, was a four walled fortress.

"Wasn't that a mountain before?" Neshae asked.

"We're still in the mountain." Rayman said. "I remember this place. He made the inside of the mountain look like his own little world, his house being the fortress within."

The spider followed outside with them.

"In other words, keep going." D pushed them both.

And the chase went on. The limbless people jumped across the water from one piece of land to another. Their only source of navigation was Rayman's slowly returning memory.

When they got across the swamp, they found a river cutting across their path. Next to the river was a hollowed out tree stump.

"This is where I turned around to fight Tempistus." Rayman said. There was a painful memory of his mother stepping between him and Tempistus and getting caught. Then he saw her being devoured by the creature he had turned into. The shock had caused him to fall into the tree stump and discover a tunnel that went under the river. "There's a tunnel in that tree stump. If we go through it--"

He was cut off by a hand suddenly slamming into his back and pinning him to the ground. Two more hands shot out and pinned D and Neshae before they could react.

Rayman looked over his shoulder and saw Tempistus in the form of some other strange creature with the three arms that held them pinned to the ground.

"You won't escape me this time." Tempistus said.

The sorcerer jerked suddenly as if an invisible force had slammed into him. And something had. As it passed him it began to take a white, almost misty form. It ran into Tempistus again, wiggling around in his insides until he let go of the three. Then it approached Rayman and Neshae.

Rayman almost thought he heard the voice of a woman singing a long forgotten lullaby. A piece of the ghost, almost like an arm, reached out and touched Rayman's cheek. A second arm reached out and touched Neshae on the cheek. It was at that moment that Rayman knew who it was.

"Mom?" his eyes began to water.

"Run." the singing voice said. Then the ghost vanished, leaving behind Tempistus.

"Come on!" Neshae said as he climbed into the stump. D pulled Rayman, who was still in shock, away and into the stump. Then he woke up from his trance and followed the others.

Fortunately, Tempistus did not go inside the tunnel with them. Unfortunately, he was able to change into something with wings so they had to hurry to beat him to the other side. They climbed out of a hole on the other side of the river just as Tempistus was landing.

"This way." Rayman said, running in the direction they had been running in before. "There's gonna be a river of lava next with a bridge going across."

Sure enough, after running for a while, they came across a river of lava. The sandy shore closest to it had turned to glass from the heat and shattered in some places. To their right was a volcano that fed the lava river. Across the river, the blue sky turned into a rocky ceiling and then a mountain wall. There was a set of double doors on this wall and just to the right of it, the switch that opened them.

There was only one problem. The bridge had crumbled and fallen in the middle. A little bit of it remained on the side they were on, but had completely fallen on the other side.

"I'll fly you across." Neshae said. "I can only carry one at a time, so who goes first?"

"Fly D across first." Rayman said.

Neshae took hold of D by the waist once again and took off across the lava river. "See ya in a minute." he said.

As Rayman waited for his brother's return, he noticed Tempistus a lot closer than he expected. A lot closer. There wasn't enough time to wait for Neshae. He had to go now.

Rayman ran up the bridge. It was his only chance. He jumped off the edge and spun his hair like a helicopter so he could go farther.

He looked back and saw Tempistus' hand shoot at him. It was just like his dream back at the witch's house: a hand shooting at him from across a river of lava.

He thought he was caught when Neshae flew into him, holding on. The hand flew past harmlessly.

"Thanks." Rayman said.

"That's what I'm here for." Neshae said.

They landed on the ground and all three of them ran for the switch. Most of it had been broken off. There was only a little stub of a lever left.

"I'm going to pull the lever. You guys hold the door when it opens." Rayman told D and Neshae. When they left, he pulled on the lever with all his strength. It had rusted solid.

Slowly, the stub of the lever began to move. It was difficult to hang onto because of its size, but he managed to hang onto it. In the corner of his eye, he saw Tempistus had changed into the flying creature once again, flown over the lava, and was now coming for him. He waited.

When Tempistus was close enough, Rayman let go of the lever and dove to the side. Tempistus flew where Rayman had been and knocked the lever all the way over. The doors flew open and D and Neshae held them in place.

Tempistus flew up to prepare for another attack. Rayman got up and ran for the door.

"Let go of the door!" he yelled when he was halfway there. Tempistus flew at him again, determined not to let his prey escape.

D and Neshae let go of the door and they and Rayman ran through the opening as the doors closed behind them. Tempistus did not get through. He would open the door in a minute, but at least they had a minute to catch their breaths.

As his dream had predicted, the minute Rayman set foot outside the mountain, he went into a trance. Every memory he had before waking up under the palm tree returned to him.

He was a little kid again. His dad was teaching him and Neshae how to play catch in the back yard. Rayman had surprisingly good aim for a kid his age. His dad thought he would for sure follow in his footsteps and become a great hero.

He was a little older now. Their parents had invited friends over and the friends' kids came also. They were older than Rayman and Neshae and wouldn't let them play with them. Neshae took their dad's sword and showed the older kids he was one of the few who could use it. He broke something and they all got in trouble.

He was twelve now. A red haired limbless girl sat on a bench next to him. They talked for a while and then she kissed him. His first kiss. These and many other memories flooded by in seconds.

He relived his thirteenth birthday. Then a few months later, everything went wrong.

The sun rose like blood red fire. A dark villain sent his minions to destroy Rayman's planet. He remembered the stories his father had told him of defeating that same villain and saving the world and knew that revenge was what the villain wanted.

His family ran for the escape pod. His father had suspected this day might come. A few of their friends had taken his advice and prepared as well, for Rayman saw more escape pods flying off into space.

The bad guy's minions were close behind. Rayman's dad turned around to fight and buy his family more time. Rayman would not leave his father's side.

As an act of desperation, Rayman's dad took off his bandanna and handed it to Rayman.

"This bandanna is very important to me." he said. "Your mother gave it to me when we first met to protect me when I saved the world. I need you to keep an eye on it for me. Can you do that?"

Feeling more helpless than he ever had before, Rayman reluctantly nodded. His mother and Neshae pulled him away to the escape pod while his father stayed and fought.

Once in space, some of the minions managed to follow them out. They fired at the pod and hit once. His mother was able to regain control and call for help on the radio. She began to land on an unknown planet.

The pod was hit again and this time, their mother was not able to keep control. They crashed right outside Tempistus' lair and were knocked out.

When Rayman woke from his trance, his heart pounded with a rage he had never known before. For the bad guy who had destroyed his planet, killing his father, and caused his mother to be killed as well, was Mister Dark.

As Tempistus reopened the door, Rayman was ready to get this fight done and over with. Dark and Rayman's father, Baeein, had fought and Baeein had won. Dark had originally wanted to get revenge on just Baeein, but then learned about the prophesy.

One who is not earthen bound, the prophesy had said. Only limbless people were not completely bound to the earth by gravity. Other creatures had to use magic or muscles to fly. But there was another force that allowed limbless people to walk around with their pieces merely floating. They were not earthen bound.

Dark wanted to make sure they would not get in his way, but in the end, sealed his own fate with the prophesy, by killing the hero at dawn. And now Rayman was pissed.

Rayman wound up his fist and shot it at Tempistus. The fist hit his head and surprised him. Rayman took another shot, planting this one into the shape shifter's stomach. He wound up his fist for another blow.

When the fist was shot, Tempistus grabbed it in midair. Rayman felt a shock go through him and as Tempistus threw his hand against the mountain wall, he found he could not detach his hand and was thrown with it.

---

Now it was D's turn to take a shot. She sent her soul arm at Tempistus, but he put up a shield like before.

As he approached D, she decided to try Rayman's attack and wound up her fist. She shot it at Tempistus and he caught it just like he had caught Rayman's.

It was then that D noticed that Tempistus used the same hand to do everything. And in that moment, she found out why.

Tempistus held out his other arm for D to see. There was no hand, just a stub on the arm, caked with scabs.

"You see what you did when you closed that portal on me?" I'm going to show you the same pain." He said.

"Wait a minute." D said. "You're a shape shifter. Couldn't you have just grown a new hand?"

"Only in my fortress. Outside my realm I am forced to keep my original form. But even if I could, that still wouldn't erase the pain I went through when it was sliced off. Your turn"

Tempistus squeezed D's captured hand and both hands were submerged in golden light. Then there was incredible pain as he was magically slicing through D's hand.

---

Rayman's head cleared from flying into the wall just in time to see Neshae jump onto Tempistus' back and bite his neck. D seemed to be missing a hand and was crying out in pain.

Out of the shock from getting bitten, Tempistus let go of D's hand. It returned to her, red and dripping. Tempistus threw Neshae over his shoulder and Rayman wound up his fist. Tempistus had his back to him. He had the advantage.

In the same instant that the fist was launched and D was distracted by her inured hand, Tempistus dove for her and picked her up. Before she could do anything, he took the Snake Cross Amulet from her and tossed her away. The fist flew by harmlessly.

Tempistus saw it and turned around. Seeing that Rayman was back on his feet, he activated the amulet. It glowed more brightly than ever and he vanished.

"Teleportation!" Neshae exclaimed. "This guy can teleport now! How are we going to beat him now?"


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"You've returned." Tempistus said as Dark entered the room. "And you're too late. The two with the amulet helped the other escape and I stole the amulet from them myself."

Dark approached Tempistus. They stood very close together now.

"Join me." Tempistus offered. "I have heard stories of your past. Together, we shall rule the universe."

In one swift movement, Dark took the Snake Cross Amulet hanging from Tempistus' neck and shoved the end into his chest. Tempistus went into shock, then fell dead to the ground, allowing Dark to keep the amulet.

"I don't form partnerships." Dark told the lifeless body. Then he began his spell. The amulet glowed once again and creatures of all shapes and sizes rose from the floor.

---

Rayman looked at D's hand. It had nearly been sliced in half. Even the bone was badly injured. Things did not look good. Dark snow clouds formed in the sky above them, despite the heat of the desert next to Tempistus' forest. The woman's prophesy was coming true. And when snow fell, it would be too late.

"Someone's coming." Neshae said.

Rayman turned around. A thick fog had gathered on the beach, making the sky blend in with the horizon. Four shadowy shapes emerged from the mist.

The first man was an elf. His hair was almost white, like Tempistus', but longer, coming past his shoulders. A strung bow and quiver of arrows hung on his back over a sandy colored cloak. The second man was a human with hair that was dark and short and eyes that were white and sightless. There was a woman close to the blind man whose hair was like waves of grain in a field and eyes of the exact same color. And the last was a man with dark hair that came to just above his shoulders. His skin was slightly paler than the others and his eyes were black. Apart from the sandy colored cloak that all four people wore, he wore a gold chain that resembled D's. The only difference was his had an "A" instead of a "D". When D saw the fourth man she immediately felt a strange feeling for him. One she could not quite describe.

Rayman and Neshae stood protectively in front of D. The elf raised his hand.

"We come in peace." He said. "We are looking for a friend of ours. She wears a gold chain with a 'D'. Have you seen her?"

"A golden chain?" Rayman turned to D, remembering the golden chain she wore with the charm on it that had inspired her name.

D's uninjured hand had already gone to the "D" on her necklace. "You know me?" she asked the four strangers.

The fourth man stepped forward. "Alaesia, is that you?"

"I don't know." D answered. "I bumped my head when I got here and lost my memory. But I do have the necklace."

"I believe we have found her." the elf said.

The fourth man picked up D and hugged her, then put her back down. Then he held her injured hand in his own and a bunch of soft, blue, little lights danced around it, healing her.

"You and I are engaged." He told her. "Your name is Alaesia and I am Dorithmir. Instead of rings, we decided to give each other these necklaces, yours with a 'D', mine with an 'A'. They were enchanted so that we would always be able to find each other."

The lights stopped dancing and D, or Alaesia now, had completely healed.

"Okay." Neshae said. "While we're out here wasting time, two bad guys are in there putting together a 'take over the world' plan into motion. What are we going to do about this?"

The blind man finally spoke. "The darkness has killed the light. Tempistus no longer walks this realm, but flies like a wisp in the wind. The serpents are in the hands of a new, darker evil."

"Someone has killed Tempistus and taken the amulet." the woman translated. "Someone dark and more evil."

"Dark." Rayman filled in. "That sounds like something he would do."

The blind man cried out suddenly, causing his wife to jump. "Danger!" He said. "Danger comes from all around, through the walls and are solid again! Demons of every shape and size! They come to destroy every living thing for the dark evil! Hundreds!"

As the woman tried to calm him down, Dorithmir turned to the three limbless people. "Can you three handle Dark on your own?"

"Of course we can." Rayman said. "I beat this guy once, I can do it again."

"Okay. We four will stay out here and make sure the demons do not hurt anything. Fhuyt will teleport you as close to Dark as he can." He put a hand on Alaesia's head and messed up her hair a little. "Good luck."

The elf held up his hand again, though this time he moved it around in a circular motion. The scenery around them blurred and the colors blended and changed, just like before at the witch's house. Then the colors separated and sharpened They were inside the mountain once again.

"You!" Dark's voice echoed in the cavernous room. The three turned around and dodged the fire ball Dark sent after them.

Dark moved a hand in the same, circular motion as Fhuyt had and Dark Rayman appeared next to them.

"Try outrunning him this time!" Dark said and ran off down the hallway he had come out of.

"Neshae and I will distract Dark Rayman." Alaesia said. "You go catch him."

Rayman nodded and took off after Dark. Dark Rayman took off after him. Alaesia reached out with her soul arm and whacked him against a wall.

"If you want to fight someone, fight us!" she challenged.

Dark Rayman came at her lightning fast and punched her in the stomach, sending her against the wall. Before she could get back up, he stood over her and hit the side of her head, knocking her to the ground.

There were colored clouds in front of Alaesia's eyes from that blow. Her head swam and her surroundings began to rock back and forth.

Dark Rayman picked her up again, preparing to throw her again. Neshae's fist slammed into him, knocking him to the ground and forcing him to let go of Alaesia. She rolled a few feet away from him.

Dark Rayman came at Neshae, but he saw it coming. He stepped to the side with vampiric speed, turned, and punched Dark Rayman as he ran by.

"Is that speed all you got?" he taunted. "I'm a vampire. I'm also built for speed."

Dark Rayman turned around, bringing around his fist to punch Neshae. Neshae caught the fist in his own hand. Then Dark Rayman brought his other fist around, catching Neshae by surprise, and planted it in the vampire's side.

The clouds cleared in front of Alaesia's eyes and the dizziness faded. She got up just as Dark Rayman had punched Neshae. She got on the ground, hands flat on the stone, and formed another sphere prison around Dark Rayman.

"You'd think he'd have seen that coming this time." Neshae said, a little out of breath.

"Are you okay?" Alaesia asked him.

"Yeah. I just..."

The stone prison cracked and burst apart and Dark Rayman stepped out.

Neshae and Alaesia were forced back from the explosion. Neshae's back bumped into something that didn't feel like the stone walls. As Alaesia dove back into battle, Neshae turned and saw a familiar handle stuck in the rock for safe keeping.

Neshae pulled it out of the wall. He felt the power surge through him and a flame shot out of the end, creating a magic inferno that could cut through almost anything. It was a blade that few people could summon. It was a sword that few people could use. It was his father's sword.

He called to Alaesia, "Keep him distracted. I've gotta help Rayman."

"No problem." Alaesia said as she was once again thrown against a wall.

Neshae took off down the hallway after Rayman and Dark.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Rayman ran after Dark. Dark turned around and threw a fire ball at him, then kept running. He ducked and kept running.

Rayman wound up his fist and shot it at Dark. The blow knocked the villain to the ground. Rayman approached him and prepared another blow. He forgot that Dark now had the Snake Cross Amulet.

Dark rolled over and held out a hand. An invisible force lifted Rayman off the ground. The hand squeezed, cutting off Rayman's air.

"You are just like your father." Dark said. "Diving head first into situations without even knowing what you're getting yourself into. You can get killed that way. Though, I'm not quite ready for you to die yet."

The invisible force let go and Rayman dropped to the ground, gasping for air. Dark came closer and Rayman punched him, sending him back. He stood up.

"You destroyed my planet, you monster!" Rayman said. "And you're gonna pay for that and for killing my father." He wound up his fist and punched at Dark again. Dark disappeared, using teleportation.

He reappeared behind Rayman and punched him back. "Your father was a fool to think he could beat me."

Rayman took another swing. "It worked, didn't it?" A miss. He took another. "He defeated you before I was born. He told me the stories as a child."

Dark ducked. "After you and the rest of your family ran off like cowards, I was able to capture him. And then when he thought you were all killed in your pod crash, I killed him with his own sword." He shot a fire ball at Rayman, which he easily dodged. "he could not defeat me without the help of his wind witch wife."

The words cut through Rayman like knives. He once again felt that rage that he had felt when he got his memories back. It was just enough of a distraction for Dark to push him back with his invisible magic.

In the corner of his eye, Rayman saw the hooded woman from before. Only this time, her hood was down and he saw her face.

Her skin was almost pure white, with golden hair that blazed like the sun. Golden eyes gleamed like torches in the darkness. And altogether, a bright light came from her, hidden under the cloak when she wore the hood.

The woman pulled off the cloak and let it wall to the ground. Her dress was even whiter than her skin and gave off an even stronger light. And Rayman knew that she was an Ancient, one of the few still living.

Until the Ancient's time to shine…the words of the prophesy repeated themselves in Rayman's head.

Dark's eyes got wide when he saw the Ancient. He created a fire ball in his hand and threw it at her.

"No!" Rayman got to his feet and ran at the fire ball to try to stop it. It went past him and continued to the Ancient.

The woman merely held up a hand and the fire ball stopped a few feet from her. The flame burned out and left not even a trace of smoke.

"It is about time for you to gain a new power." The Ancient told Rayman. "They say that if you go against a prophesy, bad things happen to you."

The light extended from the Ancient to Rayman and he felt the new power come to him. He had felt the sensation many times before in his previous adventures, but this time it was different. This was a whole new breed of power altogether to him.

His ring glowed as the new power was accepted and the light returned to the Ancient. She picked up the cloak and put it back on, dimming the light. And the light was completely gone when the hood was replaced on her head. Then she disappeared.

Dark used the amulet to make rocks rise from the ground and they all shot at Rayman. Rayman turned around. At the sight of Dark, the rage returned. It was time to try out his new power…shall come forth and make a sound.

He took a deep breath and screamed. The sound was almost impossible to hear. He felt it more than he heard it. But the vibration was impossible to miss. It shattered the rocks flying at him and knocked Dark off his feet.

Then out of nowhere, Neshae emerged from the shadows and leapt at Dark. He wielded a sword with a blade made of fire. Rayman recognized it was his father's sword. He had found it.

Dark just managed to turn around and see Neshae before the fire sword was buried deep in his chest. The end stuck out through his back and Dark fell to his knees.

Neshae pulled the sword out of Dark's chest. "That's for my parents." He said before Dark fell over dead.

---

Alaesia was thrown at the wall a few times after Neshae left. There wasn't a lot she could do at this point. She had lost the concentration she needed to use her soul power, she had to keep Dark Rayman distracted, and she couldn't kill him or he would just come back even stronger and kill her.

Only she had let him throw her a few too many times. Now she hurt too bad to even get back up. Dark Rayman wound up his fist to take the final blow.

As the fist shot at Alaesia, it disintegrated inches away from her face and turned to dust. Panic was visible on Dark Rayman's face as the rest of him began to fall apart, becoming the dirt that Dark had used to create him. That meant Dark was dead. Rayman and Neshae had won.

The two emerged from the hallway. Rayman looked a little beat up, but otherwise okay. In his hand was the amulet. And Neshae wielded his father's fire sword. The prophesy had been fulfilled.

---

The four friends of Alaesia were forced into a tight fighting circle, surrounded by hundreds of the demons. A violent red sunset made everything glow like fire. All hope seemed to be lost when every one of them was sucked back into the ground where they had come from. Dark had been defeated. The three limbless people had won.


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Alaesia could feel herself changing. She could feel a strange sensation in the space between her body and her hands. Her arms were coming back. She was going back to her original form.

Along with the change, she got her memories back. She could remember discovering her powers as a child then sent to be trained to control them at a magic school. When she met Dorithmir she had joined the SAE (Shades Against Evil) organization. They believed that the dark side didn't have to be the evil side, for Dorithmir himself was a very dark person. Dark and Light forces joined together to form an army against evil.

It was in their many missions with the elf, Fhuyt; the blind man, Shigyu; and his wife, Bujit, that Alaesia and Dorithmir had fallen in love and gotten engaged. They had done that right before this mission, to steal the Snake Cross Amulet from Tempistus.

When the transformation was over and all her memories were back, Alaesia telepathically contracted Fhuyt and all three of them were teleported back outside.

The sunset was violent red, just like in the end of Rayman's prophesy. The adventure was over. Alaesia's heart raced as she and Dorithmir embraced each other.

Fhuyt stepped toward Rayman and Neshae. "That was some pretty good fighting you two did. I watched the scene telepathically in case you needed help." He explained the SAE organization and how it was his job to search for new members on their missions. "Dark and light fighting together against evil. You guys would be perfect for my team. Will you join?"

"I'm not the kind of person that has to join an organization to save the world. But thanks for the offer." Rayman said.

"Well, if you ever need anything," he gave Rayman a ring made of cut emerald. "Toss this up in the air and use that sound power of yours. I'll be there." When Rayman accepted the ring, he continued. "We have to go now. We need to get that amulet back."

Rayman looked at Alaesia. "So you'll be leaving?"

"I have things to do in my own world." She said. "But I promise to come back someday. See you guys later."

Fhuyt held out his hand and created a portal just like the one Alaesia had created at the beginning of the adventure. The four friends were first to jump in. Alaesia waved goodbye before doing so.

In seconds the portal was gone. Rayman and Neshae were left alone next to the mountain.

"You know," Rayman said. "We never did find out why there were knaaren by the fairy counsel."

Neshae shrugged. "Don't know. Don't care."

The ground shook and a blue colored portal opened up from another world. A man stepped out wearing strange clothes that Rayman and Neshae had never seen before.

"Are you two dhjugs?" he asked them.

Rayman and Neshae shook their heads.

"Then the world shall be mine! And all living creatures shall be my slaves, starting with you two."

Rayman and Neshae looked at each other. Neshae summoned the fire blade of his sword. "After you." He said.

Rayman charged first, winding up his fist and Neshae charged behind. He began a new fight to once again protect his world from evil. Only this time, he now had a brother to fight by his side.

The End


End file.
